Understanding How Stress Affects Fertility and Ways to Manage It

Most couples interested in starting a family make sure they have intercourse regularly and consume nutritious meals. But they end up neglecting one of the most crucial factors which is stress. When you are struggling to get pregnant or undergoing fertility treatment, mental stress can deeply impact your fertility levels. So, in today’s blog, we will discuss in detail the connection between stress and fertility. We will also tell you ways of dealing with stress to maximize your chances of conceiving.

How Does Stress Affect Fertility?

We all understand that infertility and IVF treatment can increase our stress levels. But you will be surprised to learn that even stress, depression, and anxiety can lead to infertility in both men and women.

Many studies have revealed that stress and infertility are interconnected. Wondering how your professional or personal stress can stand in your way of becoming a parent? Let’s find out!

What is stress? Stress is how your body responds to various challenges – external and internal. This psychological and physiological reaction is quite complex, and it occurs if we experience a threatening, overwhelming, or demanding situation. Stress can be of different kinds like oxidative stress, emotional stress, etc. While getting stressed occasionally is normal, prolonged stress significantly impacts our quality of life.

A variety of mental and physical responses are triggered by stress. For instance, when we experience stress, cortisol, a stress hormone, is released. But what is the connection between cortisol and fertility? If you are constantly stressed, your body will be forced to produce high levels of cortisol, and this will cause hormonal imbalance. So, the secretion of reproductive hormones like progesterone and estrogen will decrease, thus making you less fertile. Men too can suffer as chronic stress can reduce the production of testosterone, the most important male reproductive hormone. If testosterone is less, the sperm will be of poor quality. Naturally, it will get more difficult to conceive.

Impact of Stress on Ovulation

There can be effects of stress on ovulation. Women who remain under stress admit that they experience irregular menstrual cycles. How will you track your ovulation and predict your fertility window if your periods are inconsistent?

In rare cases, stress can result in anovulation. It is a medical condition that stops the ovaries from releasing mature eggs.

Tips to Cope with Stress

Now that you realize that distress and infertility are directly proportional, identify symptoms of depression and anxiety. Here are some things you can do to address stress:

1. Exercise daily

One of the best ways of bidding adieu to stress is by exercising for at least 30 minutes every day. When you exercise, feel-good hormones like dopamine and endorphins will replace cortisol. And who says exercising means only sweating out at the gym?

For the best results, feel free to pick physical activities that you will enjoy doing. It can be anything like gardening, stair climbing, playing badminton, dancing, riding a bicycle, walking, swimming, or jogging.

Read: Fertility Yoga Benefits

2. Rely on relaxation techniques

Many stress-management techniques can work wonders. Deep breathing, meditation, and yoga are excellent techniques to get rid of stress, anxiety, and depression. Getting hot oil massages can also give quick relief from stress and thus, minimize the risk of infertility.

3. Sleep soundly at night

People who have a consistent sleep routine wake up feeling happy, motivated, and energized. So, for women experiencing infertility, it is very important to go to bed on time and sleep peacefully for 7-8 hours. Sleeping is also the best way of blocking negative thoughts. Hence, when in a bad mood or feeling hopeless, sleep it off.

4. Spend time with your favorite people

Irrespective of the outcome of IVF treatment, don’t forget that you are not alone in this journey. Your partner is your biggest support system, and therefore don’t isolate yourself in your grief. Do fun things with your man like going on dinner dates, playing bedroom games, etc. to ease the situation. You should also catch up with your close friends and family members to feel better.

5. Eliminate the source of stress

Arriving at the root cause of stress is an organic way of deleting stress from your life. For example, if you are feeling stressed because you have an extremely demanding job and your work-life balance is disrupted, look for another job. If problems in your conjugal life are causing stress, have discussions with your spouse or go to a marriage therapist. Lastly, if the stress is due to the failure of assisted reproductive technologies, speak about it to your fertility specialist.

6. Seek professional help

Mental health is not something to be neglected. If you fail to manage stress on your own, some professionals can make your life easier. Find an accomplished therapist in your neighborhood and you will begin noticing positive changes right from the first session.

So, women with infertility should follow the above-mentioned tips to tackle fertility issues naturally. If you have opted for assisted reproductive technology, that too can be stressful as you need to be patient to get the good news. Therefore, when trying to conceive, say no to stress and try to be happy.

References:

SART: Stress and Infertility – a patient education micro-video

The relationship between stress and infertility – PMC (nih.gov)